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Northampton, Massachusetts - 6 schools
An equity score of 43/100 ranks Northampton #133 of 362 districts in Massachusetts (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $20,905 per pupil, Northampton ranks #213 of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending (Massachusetts districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,594
Total Enrollment
6
Schools
$20,905
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Northampton operates 6 public schools serving 2,594 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Massachusetts. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 combined, 2 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Hampshire County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $20,905 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending. See how Massachusetts compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 66.0% local, 25.8% state, and 8.1% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers. The district's equity score is 43/100, ranked #133 of 362 in Massachusetts against a state average of 38, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 6 schools offering Advanced Placement (25 AP courses district-wide), a 158.7:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 24.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 67.6% White, 20.0% Hispanic or Latino, 3.2% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Bridge Street, with a diversity index of 62.7/100.
Its largest campus is Northampton High, enrolling 875 students (35% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is R. K. Finn Ryan Road, at 231 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Northampton High accounts for 33.7% of all Northampton student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Northampton-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Northampton school enrollment varies 3.8× across entities
Northampton school enrollment ranges from 231 students (lowest) to 875 students (highest), a spread of 644 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Northampton student-counselor ratio is 159:1 — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Values this far below typical often correlate with unusually small scale or population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se — worth checking whether the underlying denominator is itself an outlier.
Northampton chronic absenteeism rate is 24.6% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Variation between sub-units within Northampton is typically wider than the Northampton-aggregate figure suggests.